


Thousand Maws: Hard Mode

by Ryumaru



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Action, Canon-Typical Violence, Dungeon Crawling, Gen, Multiple Warriors of Light
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-14
Updated: 2018-04-14
Packaged: 2019-04-22 16:19:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14312520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ryumaru/pseuds/Ryumaru
Summary: A group of four Warriors of Light revisit the infamous Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak to investigate a potential threat.





	Thousand Maws: Hard Mode

The echoing drip of water on stone was among the only sounds in the dank hallways of the old prison, sunk beneath the forest. The skittering of diremites had long ago been hushed with the extermination of the biggest of them, some long time ago, but other things still rustled in the darkness. The Thousand Maws of Toto-Rak would not be silenced. 

Adding to the stirrings, boots clanked on the long-abandoned stone – metal and leather alike. Four adventurers stalked down a corridor, weapons drawn and eyes watching. None were strangers to the Twelveswood, or to trekking through dangerous territory. As Warriors of Light, they had faced greater dangers than mold and hostile plants. Even so, none of them wanted to leave anything to chance. They had been called back to investigate the catacombs as a favor to the Elder Seedseer. Kan-E-Senna, having heard unsettling rumors about the Thousand Maws, called upon them, thinking that even if they were no more than rumors, it would be better to know for certain. 

R'tahn blinked behind his goggles. Toto-Rak had not aged well since he had last set foot inside. An already crumbling ruin had crumbled further, and the creeping plants had taken deeper root. He and Vantel, marching ahead of him, had ventured inside before to help a trapped friend. Their companions on this particular venture, keeping pace between them, had also been here once before, on a separate errand. Elise Whitewood, sister to Vantel but for blood, was illuminated by the soft aetheric glow of the fiery, sprite-like creature she had summoned to her side. Her grimoire, kept in pristine condition, had been filled to bursting with notes on the secrets of a Summoner, especially that which had helped her create her egi. Vaeyaden, their trusted healer, carried his cane with the surety of a veteran White Mage. When injury was imminent, it was he that could mend them without fail, as he had done countless times. 

The shield and sword that served as Vantel's badges of Paladin-hood glimmered in the low light. With Elise's companion – a model of the fierce Primal Ifrit, bound to her will – they needed no torch. R'tahn idly brushed some dust off the barrel of his carbine. Ambush could be around any corner. The absence of the diremites that had once infested the place did little to ease the crawling of his skin. Snapping pincers and stinging tails were far from the only danger, as he well remembered the stinging toxins and choking spores that had made his first visit such a living hell. Even the plants that lived here in the murk were not exempt from his suspicions. Several species were carnivorous, and none of the party wished to test the extent of that. 

Vantel stopped, holding a clenched fist up. Everyone else froze, letting their foremost front line fighter listen. Only a faint sussurus disturbed the silence. Save Vaeyaden, who was the only hyur of the group, the others' feline ears twitched. All three miqo'te could hear something ahead of them. Wordlessly, Vantel gestured at R'tahn, who nodded. He slipped ahead, careful to step quietly. He would scout ahead, ready to call the others over the linkpearl earrings they all shared if insurmountable danger loomed. 

Some minutes of cautious exploration later, R'tahn found himself peering around a stony corner into one of the the larger chambers that had served as a thoroughfare in ages past. An altar had been erected in the center, hastily constructed from fallen stone scavenged from the edges of the room. Eldritch markings and runes had been carved in it, and the miqo'te was dismayed to know that he recognized them. Surrounding the altar were figures in robes as red as Eorzea's one-time second moon. They chanted in guttural tones, directing some kind of blasphemous prayer towards the altar. “Hells,” R'tahn muttered into the linkpearl. “The Lambs of Dalamud.”

The magical gemstone carried his words to the rest of the group, and Elise tensed. “You're sure?” she asked.

“The blood-red robes and demonic chanting were something of a hint,” said R'tahn. 

“Aw, damn,” Vantel muttered. “I had fifty gil riding on this being just local teenagers sneaking off to bed one another.”

R'tahn suppressed a heavy sigh. “Only you would consider this ambiance suitable.” 

“A tumble's a tumble,” Vantel replied, smirking. “You know my feelings on the matter.”

“Not by choice; I'd rather not have had to exile myself from the company workshop.” 

“Hey, if someone thinks an airship under construction is sexy, I'm not one to argue.”

Vaeyaden and Elise, despite the tension in the air, both fought to stifle their chuckles. 

“Vantel, the list of things I had no need to know about you and yet still do grows ever long- hold a moment.” The Machinist had detected a subtle shift in the swaying of the massed cultists. 

With a glance, he assessed the situation. “Get in here,” he hissed into the linkpearl. “I have to move ere they make this meeting into a full ritual of sacrifice.”

The other three were already in motion. Elise's voice came through as clear and focused as her intent. “What happened?”

“They've got captives. Elezen.” There was a pause as R'tahn stealthily shifted himself into a more advantageous position. “Three of them, chained together. Might be a family. I doubt they were invited here. Likely meant to be an appetizer for the intended guests of honor.”

The Lambs of Dalamud were a known danger to most sane folk. Whether they were desperate, ignorant of the dangers, fallen to nihilistic despair, or simply power hungry, the members of the cult would seek to treat with the monstrous denizens of the Void. It mattered little why they would to the adventurers. Voidsent were dangerous enough to Eorzea without the aid of fools. 

None of the elezen prisoners seemed to know the full extent of what was going on. Likely they had been dragged from their beds and thrown into the back of a disguised wagon, or stopped to help a seemingly innocent traveler, then fell prey to the spellcraft of a waiting cultist. No matter how they had been brought to Toto-Rak, however, R'tahn fully intended to see them safely out. His carbine was already aimed at one of the cultists dragging them by their chains. He would only have one shot before all hells broke loose, and he refused to waste it. Mentally, the Machinist was counting down to when the others would burst into the room, and if he timed it just right....

Vantel, without hesitation, led the charge. She slammed not into, but through a kneeling cultist, screaming an inarticulate battle cry. The unfortunate demon-worshiper had tried to stand as he heard the oncoming rush of metal and muscle, but he crumbled under the onslaught. Had the situation been less dire, his agonized yelp would have been outright comical. 

At the same time as Vantel made impact, R'tahn fired. The one in charge of the prisoners dropped like a stone, the chain slipping out of his grasp. The elezen stopped, staggering back at the crack of gunfire and sudden spray of blood. 

Elise was right behind, her summoned companion's flames roaring into full furor. With a shout, she brandished her tome and the egi spat a cone of flame. Some half dozen robed figures dove aside, frantically beating at their burning clothes. 

At the rear, Vaeyaden spun his cane and uttered an incantation. R'tahn had known Vaeyaden for some time, but those who hadn't would have underestimated the White Mage, thinking him no more than a healer. Few made the same mistake a second time, having felt the full power of his connection with the elementals and the land itself. Stone rattled, then shifted, striking upwards from the floor. One cultist had failed to move in time, and was crushed into the ceiling. 

Now chaos had taken full hold of the gathering, and red robes milled about in a sea of confusion. Some had gone for their knives or mage's staves, while others were trying to flee at full tilt. R'tahn added to it all by plucking a device from its place on his belt and tossing it into the midst. A spherical machine, held aloft by buzzing rotors, spun into life and began to emit pulses of crackling energy. 

“Bishop autoturret is out!” he announced, already vaulting from where he had taken cover and charging towards the prisoners. His companions knew what to do. The device could fry whatever foe was unlucky enough to be near it, or at the very least unlucky enough to be shoved within its reach. Vantel spun, cutting down a cultist before he could free his sword, and slammed her shield into another, knocking him off balance. With practiced ease, Vaeyaden called upon howling winds, sending him bowling into his fellows, and the whole mess collapsed towards R'tahn's device. 

Elise had set her sights on a cluster of opponents who seemed to be more collected than the rest. With a grin, she used one of her own arcane formulas to alter the flow of aether around them. A harsh burning began in their lungs as her invocation of Ruin took hold on their bodies. 

Spitting curses, the two remaining guards for the prisoners jerked the chains they held. All three elezen fell to the cold stone floor. One of the guards hefted what looked like a cleaver and began to scream something to whatever voidsent this sect served, only to drop it and howl in pain. R'tahn's expert aim had sent a shot straight through the guard's hand. A second shot went through the shin, dropping the guard to the ground, and a third took the other guard through the chest in a fatal blow. 

“Two for three, R'tahn!” shouted Vaeyaden encouragingly. “I saw that one take two shots to drop!”

“I wasn't aware it was a contest,” responded the Machinist. At the same time, he flicked his carbine barrel over and fired once more. A cultist with a bow, who had been aiming for the White Mage, fell.

“Alright, three out of four,” Vaeyaden continued. “Just keeping track for you! Deltora and I have a bet running.”

“Twelve above, another?” R'tahn blew a sigh of disbelief, even as he ducked under a burst of flame from a magically-inclined Lamb. The caster's spell was met with a pointed retort in the form of a bullet. “Dare I even ask?”

Vaeyaden laughed and sent another victim into the ceiling. “I told him you'd have a job where you dropped each and every target with a single shot. He said it wouldn't happen, not in a full year.” 

“While I find your faith in my aim flattering-” the miqo'te paused to evade a thrown knife “- I would appreciate some cover so I can set about freeing our friends here.”

Wordlessly, the hyur gestured and encouraged a change in the aether. Stone from the floor flowed up in a wave, smashing aside an approaching cultist and freezing in a wall for his ally to duck behind while he worked. Without missing a beat, R'tahn set about the chains around the prisoners' ankles. 

“You all know where the exit is, I trust,” he said to the fallen elezen. Wordlessly, they nodded, eyes unfocused as they tried to process this sudden turn of fate. “Good,” he continued. “Once I have you freed, I want you to run for it with all haste. Get yourselves to safety.”

One elezen found her voice. “T-the others,” she stammered, unable to say much more. 

R'tahn gave her a reassuring smile as he pried open a lock. “They'll be safe in our hands,” he answered. “Don't worry.” The sound of a cultist slamming into the rock interrupted him, only to be followed by a short, agonized scream. Likely the product of Vantel's work, R'tahn thought. “They're deeper in the dungeon, yes?” he finished. At the terrified girl's nod, he straightened up, having finished breaking the locks. 

As R'tahn did so, Elise's egi belched forth a cone of flame, scattering what was left of the group she had begun assailing. She smirked and spoke into her linkpearl. “Got them good to go?”

“Aye,” replied R'tahn. “Is the way clear?” 

There was a pause and a flare of burning aether. “It is now!” 

Rolling his eyes, R'tahn gave the elezen the signal. They began to run, slowly at first, but as they found strength, they quickly gained speed. Away they went, up the tunnels and towards the safety of the Black Shroud. They would be met by capable soldiers – the Wood Wailers – sent from Gridania in case of trouble. 

The battle, meanwhile, raged on. The noise had reached the cultists deeper within the dungeon, as well as some of their lesser voidsent minions. Now they had joined the melee. A set of spindly demons with grasping claws and flickering wings led the charge, cackling as they went. 

Vaeyaden saw them first. “Vodoriga!” he cried, as he conjured a biting wind to slow them down. One was too quick, and had set its eyes on Elise's unguarded back. It swooped low, then high, weaving around the flailing limbs of a cultist in his death throes and the flashing blade held by Vantel. Clearing the distance in a blink, it spat something in its voidsent tongue and raised its claws, fire brimming between them. It let the fireball loose, Elise still unaware of its attack. 

“Like hells you will!” shouted Vantel. Spinning, she lobbed her shield almost carelessly off her arm. It whipped through the stagnant air and caught the vodoriga upside the head, sending it spinning to the floor. There was a flicker of the torchlight, and Vantel dissolved into a cloud of red-tinged shadow. The darkness spat itself across the room, releasing its passenger just in time to block the flames with her own body. As her shield spun upwards, Vantel grit her teeth against the pain and leapt, catching the shield with one hand and dropping on the stunned demon. The blade found its mark in the monster's skull, pinning it to the floor. 

R'tahn knew that they had little time before the tide of reinforcements would force them back. Skilled as they were, four adventurers and Warriors of Light could only do so much against large numbers in cramped quarters. But first, the vodoriga had to be dealt with. He plucked something from the toolkit on his belt and depressed a switch, then threw it hard into the cloud of swarming voidsent. They still had not made it much farther into the room, battered as they were by the winds that Vaeyaden had called up. There was a faint ticking as the device sailed across the room. One particular demon, of quicker mind than its fellows, snatched the object from the air as the winds subsided. It looked at the little egg-like thing it held. Then the grenade exploded. 

Elise, having already turned at Vantel's shout, went from concern for her sister to utter joy at seeing the cloud of fire and smoke. She gestured, and her egi charged the remaining voidsent, breathing fire. The monsters thus distracted, she could help Vantel up. As she did, Vaeyaden approached, his healing magics already swirling about his hands and staff. 

The wounds Vantel had sustained were not serious, by any means, but the flames had scorched the skin beneath her armor. A wash of relief came as the White Mage went to work, soothing the burns and restoring seared skin. 

R'tahn, providing cover for his friends, had already thrown another grenade into the passage from which the demons had come. There were two distinct metallic _clinks_ as it bounced, then a cry of dismay from the cultists who had been approaching. Another explosion, and they fell silent. 

“That's bought us some time,” he said, firing off one final shot to deal with the last cultist standing. “But I fear the rest of their number will soon be upon us.”

Vantel spat. “Cowards. We keep moving, slay the remainder. Those elezen can't have been the only captives.” 

Elise agreed. “Aye, and the voidsent not the only foul things they've called.” She grinned over at Vaeyaden. “Care to wager what they've got for us?” 

The hyur shook his head, sober for once. “Not at present. I'd sooner see them dead or banished.” 

As if to answer him, a howl came from far down the twisting corridors. It was deep and guttural, like the baying of a full pack of hellhounds. All four of the adventurers raised their weapons instinctively. None of them had heard anything like it before. Wordlessly, they looked at one another and nodded. It was time to move. Without hesitation or stopping to regroup further, they took off in the direction of the hellish noise. 

Some few remaining demons and their worshipers tried to bar their way, but they were cut down without missing a step. Blade, spell, and carbine worked in a deadly rhythm, pounded out by the beat of their boots against the stone, until they came to the deepest chamber of Toto-Rak. 

What had once been an oubliette had fallen into such disrepair that it had become a nest of diremites by the time R'tahn and Vantel had come before. The vilekin had been large enough to eat a man whole, and toxic seepage had filled the sunken outer edge of the room. With the monsters dispatched, the former nest was now filled with candles and eldritch scribblings in dried blood. Some dozen or so crimson-cowled corpses decorated the room, lying dry upon the cracked stone. What blood they had once possessed, it seemed, had been consumed by the ritual that had summoned the hideous figure that now dominated the room. 

One cowled figure still stood, and it turned to face them as they plunged in. A smug grin spread across the cultist leader's face as he gestured grandly at the demon behind him. “You are too late,” he said, rasping each syllable with as much superiority as he could muster. “The Lord of Hunger has already been called to this realm.” 

It stood at least fifteen feet high, and almost as wide. The bloated body rippled with fat and juices. Most horrifyingly, its entire torso seemed to be a gaping maw, filled with teeth that jutted out at random angles, like a field of broken tombstones. The Warriors of Light could see no eyes nor nose, just a lashing tongue like a red eel the size of a tree trunk. Arms seemed to protrude from some trunk behind the mouth, each one weighed down with flab that concealed enough muscle to lift the thing's body. It panted, like a hungry dog, thick ropes of saliva dripping from every exposed tooth. 

Before any of the adventurers could say anything, the cultist continued. “We were promised much,” he said, “and thus it has been delivered. Blood enough to entice, but not sate, this marve-” 

He was cut off by a wet slurp. The demon opened its incredible maw and out snaked the tongue in a blur of muscle tissue. It snapped around the cultist and pulled, dragging him screaming into the demon's mouth. There was a sickening crunch and spray of fluid, and then the beast roared once more, clearly seeking more prey. 

Vantel charged. No time for banter now, not with something so loathsome and powerful in the mortal realm. Burning shadow ringed her form, and a piece of the aura broke off to strike at the demon, drawing its attention. Paladin she may have been, but her time as a Dark Knight had left its mark upon her. Even then, she had been relentless in her pursuit of justice, a beacon to steady herself, even as she plumbed depths that most dared not reach within themselves. All of her hate and fury, she had reforged into armor enough to shield those she cared most about from whatever danger might come their way. And now, faced with a voidsent the likes of which few had even dreamed of, the power surged through her. 

The Lord of Hunger spat at her, and she dodged aside with a grace that her heavy armor should have made impossible. The glob of bile hit the stone and hissed, beginning the process of dissolving it. With a scream of fury, Vantel plunged her blade into the nearest solid chunk of flesh. She ignored the spray of black ichor that resulted, only ducking her head down to keep it from spattering on her spectacles. 

Elise and R'tahn simultaneously dashed to the sides of the room, spreading out to keep the monster from hitting both of them with a single spell. Vaeyaden bolted too, shortly behind Elise. Shouting some incantation, the White Mage focused his power into a barrier to protect Vantel. An arm swiped at him and he ducked, narrowly avoiding having his head taken off by its demonic strength. The breeze as it passed by him ruffled his hair. 

R'tahn fired, the shot impacting one of the monster's countless teeth. Even as it began to turn towards him, Vantel seized its attention again, her blade igniting in white flame tinged with blood red. Three strikes in quick succession opened gaping wounds. The holy fire seared its flesh, tainted as it was by the darker parts of her will. Flame from Elise's companion joined it, intensified by its master's own fury. 

Snarling, the demon lashed out at Vantel. Her shield turned the blow aside, ringing with the impact, even as pain shot down her arm. The sheer force had been enough to jar her very bones. A flash of healing magic from Vaeyaden consumed and dulled the pain, but some yet lingered. Another arm swung for R'tahn, who deftly leapt over it. As he landed, he detached another device from his toolkit. The cylindrical contraption opened up at the top, revealing rotors, and another autoturret sparked to life. In unison, machine and master fired, bullets impacting rubbery hide. 

Hissing between her teeth, Elise began one of her lengthier incantations. Risky as it was, the sheer power of it would be necessary to bring the monstrosity down. Arcane formulae unfolded in her mind's eye as she spoke the words and calculations. Vantel raised her shield in a defiant gesture, sending light flaring through the room to draw more attention to herself. 

As R'tahn maneuvered through the room, dodging the occasional sweep of an arm, he was fitting an extension onto the barrel of his weapon. When he fired once more, electricity sparked down the extension and flew off with the shot, accelerating it. The demon howled as the gauss-charged ammunition sank into its hide. But before it could attempt to punish him for the stinging hit, Vantel once again drew it away, sinking her sword into a section of its jaw. 

Elise finished her incantation as Vaeyaden spoke one of his own. The air began to whistle as the winds picked up. Flames from her minion washed over the Lord of Hunger, and as it opened its mouth to snarl in pain, a bolt of greyish magic shot through the air and past its teeth and tongue. The destructive magic immediately set to work, infecting the demon's flesh with a plague made specifically to eat away at it from the inside out. 

The adventurers kept up the assault, knowing they had to be relentless. Vantel's blade flashed like a firebrand, drawing yet more ichor from the voidsent in gushes and oozes. Spells and bullets ate away at its hide, always biting into it somewhere vulnerable. It returned every strike, with claw and bite and swipe of tongue, but the steady glow of conjury mended whatever injuries it managed to inflict. The Lord of Hunger's fury grew with each beat in the battle, and soon it could contain it no more.

A horrible gurgling began somewhere inside its gullet. It gnashed its teeth, sending saliva and other, less pleasant fluids, spattering across the room. Vantel, mid-strike, realized what it was about to do. “Behind me!” she shouted, raising her shield. Her companions immediately knew to run for her. They fired what parting shots they could, even as they took cover behind her. 

The Lord of Hunger burbled as it spat a torrent of hot, caustic bile, enough to cause a massive cloud of steam and vile stench to rise as it flooded the room. Chunks of previous meals, yet undigested, hit the walls, floor, and ceiling with horrible _splats_. The sickening gush of fluids drowned out every other sound in the room, like a hurricane. Had any observers been present, they likely would have heaved from the sheer stink of corpse-meat and rot, if not the acrid sting of the otherworldly digestive juices. Slowly, the storm of regurgitation subsided. 

Like sentinels, the Warriors of Light yet stood. Vantel had braced her whole body forwards, putting all of her weight – physical and magical – behind her shield. Wings of blazing white, tinged with sickly red in places, extended from her back, forming a barrier of faith and fury for her friends. Though she herself was worn and burned by the deluge, the other three were unscathed. Vantel took up a better guarding stance, readying herself for whatever came next. Vaeyaden began a powerful healing spell, knowing she would need the strength. R'tahn and Elise, however, spoke in unison. 

“Our turn.”

The extension that R'tahn had put on his weapon began to glow with an intense aetheric light. Elise's minion dissolved into yet more energy, which seemed to be absorbed by the barrel. With a shout, Vantel and Vaeyaden added their own aetheric strength, causing the barrel to become almost pure light. R'tahn raised it, aiming steadily for the open mouth of the Lord of Hunger. With a grim smile, he pulled the trigger. 

There was a soundless roar as the weapon fired. The joint aetheric power of all four adventurers was enough to send beams of light throughout the sunken ruins, out to the very entrance. A lance of aether pierced the Lord of Hunger clean through, burning and cleansing as it went. The voidsent felt its very being break apart as the light went to work. Then, with a heavy _whoomp_ , it exploded. 

As one, the adventurers blew a sigh of relief. What was left of the demon began to dissolve into aether, sending the remnants of its material form back into the lifestream of the planet. With it, the efforts of the Lambs of Dalamud so too dissolved, their mad ambitions stopped cold. At least three lives had been directly saved by their actions, and who knew how many more could have been taken to feed the voidsent? 

All in all, it had been a good day's work.

**Author's Note:**

> I really wanted to do more action involving my WoL and his friends, so here it is. The other members of the adventuring party are guildmates of mine from before my server transfer, and my next piece should feature some of my guildmates from my new server. In the immortal words of our beloved Yoshi-P, please look forward to it.


End file.
